Hiroko
by koolkat 101
Summary: Aya and her friends find a strange girl who appears to be a celestial maiden. However, she looks a whole lot like Aya! Also, she seems to have a strange connection to Ceres... Please R&R! Chapter 5 up.
1. Prologue

_Hello and welcome to my first fanfic! I hope you enjoy it, but if you don't, please don't grade me too harshly!_

Prologue 

"Mom, where are we going?" asked 16-year-old Hiroko Tokiri. She and her mother were in their car, driving along a deserted road. About an hour before, Hiroko's mother told her to put her shoes on and get in the car without explaining anything.

"Don't worry about it. J-just keep on your toes, okay?" That was her mother's only reply. After that, the car was completely silent.

After contemplating things for a moment, Hiroko slowly said, "Is this about the bullies?" Her mom said nothing to that. When Hiroko looked into the rear-view mirror, she could see tears glistening in her eyes.

The bullies Hiroko spoke of were Kitara Yu and Tinoki Haru. They had cornered her after school about a week ago, and kept teasing her about her sickly sister. A swelling rage seemed to build up inside of Hiroko, until finally it seemed to explode. The strange thing was, though, it seemed like an alien was speaking instead of Hiroko, and it used her mouth. "Go away. How dare you mock someone who can't help the condition she's in?" And two long slits instantly appeared on each of the girls' arms. Shaken and confused, Hiroko told her mother what happened afterwards. Her mother's response was to instantly turn rigid, her eyes wide with fear. The two did not speak much since, despite Hiroko's attempts to make conversation. She even caught her mother crying in her bedroom one afternoon.

"Hiroko, please understand," said her mom finally. "I love you, and I don't want anything happening to you." Then she burst into tears. Hiroko tried her best to comfort her, but it was futile. Eventually, Hiroko had to turn her attention to staring out the window, which was now blurred with the rain.

Suddenly, the car turned into an empty gravel parkway that was surrounded thickly by trees. "We're here," stated her mother simply. "Grab your coat."

When the pair stepped out of the car, a group of people stood waiting, along with a face Hiroko recognized. "Grandpa?" she said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

But Grandpa didn't answer. "Thank you, Suki. We'll take it from here."

"NOOOOOO!" Mrs. Tokiri suddenly burst out, and some of the men grabbed her, opened the door of _their_ car, and thrust her inside, slamming the car door.

"MOM!" cried Hiroko, and lunged forward, only to be held back by some of the burlier men. "_What are you doing?!"_ Hiroko yelled passionately. _"Let me go!"_

Hiroko was instantly slammed to the ground. Stars whirled in her head, and when she recovered, she was surprised to find two hands clasped around her neck.

"I'm sorry, Hiroko," said a familiar voice. Hiroko looked up into the eyes of her own uncle. Suddenly , a barrage of images exploded into Hiroko's head, and the final image was that of a strange symbol, filling up her mind like a flood so she could think of nothing else. An explosion of energy erupted from Hiroko, sending her foes flying,And then she blacked out.

_Ooooh, what happens next? Well, this will all make sense in a couple of chapters, so stay with me! Please review; it would be very helpful!_


	2. Chapter 1

_The second chapter is finally here! Due to some concerns expressed in recent reviews in the first chapter,I have a couple of things to say; first of all, I only read up to book 6, so I have no clue who Miori is; second, if whatever happened to Hiroko sounds familiar, it's supposed to be like that, it'll just make sense in a couple chappies, like I said. As for the setting, this takes place anywhere there is space between the fourth book and the end of the sixth. Anyway, enjoy this chapter, and send a review **pleeeeeease**!_

Chapter 1 

Yuhi's worst nightmare had finally been realized. He was out of some of his most important cooking ingredients: soy sauce, miso, and salt. Unfortunately, he had also planned a period of martial-arts training for the very same day this nightmare was realized. Not being very witty when put under pressure, Yuhi forced Aya, Suzumi, Chidori, and Mrs. Q to get them while he trained. So after a great deal of fuming, the four of them climbed into the car while Aya still grumped away.

"Why can't he just get the stuff on another day!?" she complained. The group were now driving along a road that passed through some trees. Suzumi and Chidori were staring out of their windows at the bleak day, trying their best to ignore Aya's complaints while Mrs. Q was practicing a new skill: keeping her eyes on the road.

"I mean, why can't he just make some Ramen for the night?" ranted Aya. This was where Suzumi spoke up.

"Absolutely not!" she cried. "I hate Ramen!"

This took Aya aback, so she asked, "Well, don't you have any food mixes or anything? You've gotta have something like that!"

"Well, I don't, and that's final! Now could you please stop complaining?! Chidori's supposed to do that, not you!"

"Hey, that's an insult!" Chidori piped up. Suzumi glared at her and said nothing. Aya fumed inwardly, but forced herself to turn her head towards the window. She was finally quiet.

Time passed quietly. Chidori yawned occasionally, and Aya and Suzumi sometimes exchanged glares. Aya's eyelids slowly drooped, until finally she fell asleep.

Aya jolted awake, but strangely enough, she saw nothing but black. Suddenly, Ceres' voice echoed from nowhere.

_"Turn left! Now!"_ she said desperately. In the midst of her surprise, Aya suddenly regained her vision. The car was driving high speed along the road. A turn-off to the left was coming up fast. Bewildered, Aya yelled to Mrs. Q, "Turn left!

The car instantly swerved. Chidori instantly woke up(she too was asleep) and, sensing the danger, also transformed. Suzumi's grip turned vice-like on her armrest and Aya braced for impact. The jerked to a brake and then halted. Mrs. Q wiped her hands and then said brightly, "Okay, everyone out!"

"STOP DOING THAT!!!" the others screamed in unison. Mrs. Q looked at them in surprise.

"What? You told me to turn left and I turned left!" she said.

When everyone stepped out of the car, what lay before them was what looked like a battleground. They had parked in the middle of a small crater. Surrounding the crater were some unconscious men, and a car with an unconscious woman inside. In the center of the crater lay a young woman.

Strands of raven black hair surrounded a pale, regal face. Her rosy cheeks seemed to make her complexion even paler, as well as her eyelashes. Something stirred in the memory that belonged to Ceres in Aya's mind, but she looked familiar to Aya as well. She looked-

"-just like Ceres!" exclaimed Chidori. This made Aya start. "_She's one of us,"_ she realized.

"You guys! She's a celestial! We've gotta help her!" she said. Everyone else looked surprised, but helped her take the woman to the car.

_Well, that just about wraps up my second chapter. I would like to write more, but I don' t have much time left because the computer's going to do a virus scan quite soon. _T.T _Thanks to everyone who reviewed! This is kool kat 101, signing off(until next chapter)!_


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 3 has arrived! This is the part where Yuhi finally comes into the picture. This just might be a short chapter, because I want to keep some suspense in this story(even if I might not be good at it). I just hope this is a good chapter!

Chapter 2 

Yuhi was just finishing his training when the others finally got back. When the front door opened, he looked up in surprise.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to take longer than this just to get the shopping done?" he asked. His eyes opened even wider when he saw the woman they were carrying. "Who's that? Why is she unconscious? Did you kidnap somebody?"

Aya, Suzumi, Chidori, And Mrs. Q sweatdropped.

"Well, I'm sorry Yuhi, but we had to come home early. Something happened along the way, so we couldn't get any shopping done. Do something useful and get this woman a sleeping bag," commanded Suzumi. Yuhi grumbled, but he took the woman from Aya's and Chidori's arms and walked out of the room with her.

Suzumi turned to Aya. "Now I want you to tell me how you knew where that person was. I don't think it was just a coincidence that you shouted to turn and we found a celestial." Aya was taken aback. Mrs. Q and Chidori were suddenly staring at Aya, too, waiting for an answer. She hesitated, then began to explain Ceres' warning.

Yuhi looked down at the unconscious woman that he had just placed in the sleeping bag. He noticed that she bore a strong resemblance to Ceres. She had the same face and hair, to put it frankly. The one difference was that the cheekbones seemed a little lower.

When he started to feel awkward and uncomfortable, Yuhi voiced his thoughts aloud. "Well, I did what Suzumi said, I took her upstairs and tucked her in. Now I guess I should leave." Strangely, though, his bones just seemed like they didn't want to move.

It took him a few moments to realise this. When he did, a suspicion crawled into his mind, and his eyes snapped back to the slumbering woman. The dark color of her hair was fading to a mouse brown, and her eyelids were slowly opening to reveal a pair of icy blue eyes.

Aya's eyes.

_Pleeeeeeeeease read and review! I have to get off the computer now, so that's all I have to say. _


	4. Chapter 3

_I'm back! Sorry about the short conversational notes at the end of the last chapter. We're finally onto the chapter where we find out where Hiroko's been all this time. Still, it wasn't hard to guess, so you probably know where she is anyway. You finally got to know what she looked like in the last chapter, too! __ Things might start to clear up in this chapter, so bear with me!_

Chapter 3 

"WHOA!" Yuhi instantly sprang back a few feet in shock. The strange girl groaned and slowly propped herself up on her elbows. She looked around the room in complete bafflement.

"Where am I?" she asked. Then her eyes fell on Yuhi, and she instantly screamed. Yuhi froze, not sure of what to do. When the girl shot up and out of the room, Yuhi chased after her, realizing that she was in her celestial form the entire time.

Meanwhile, Aya had just finished her story when she heard a scream and sounds of running feet. Suzumi and the others heard it, too, and it became quite clear that Suzumi was annoyed.

"Well, I believe Yuhi has awoken our guest," she said. "Shall we introduce ourselves?"

She started to go in the hallway, but the girl that had just awakened charged into her as the door opened. The wind was instantly knocked from Suzumi's stomach, and she doubled over in pain just as the girl sat up and looked around at the faces staring down at her. She stood up in shock when she saw Aya, who instantly stopped helping Suzumi and did the same. The two teenagers stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Aya cleared her throat.

"You look.." she began.

"Like me!" the other finished.

Both girls swooned, and then collapsed upon the floor.

Hazy images swam into Aya's view. When they became clear, she found herself looking up at everyone else's faces.

"Are you okay?" asked Chidori.

"I'm fine," Aya replied. "Who was that girl?"

The others looked at each other, and then back at Aya. "That girl was the woman we brought back from the road," said Suzumi. "She's awake now if you want t o see her."

"Huh?" thought Aya.

Suzumi took her hand and led her into her bedroom. The strange girl who looked so much like Aya was sitting on the floor. She stood up when the pair walked in. Suzumi began introductions immediately.

"Aya," she said. "I'd like you to meet Hiroko Tokiri, age 16. Hiroko, meet Aya Mikage, also age 16."

Aya looked closely at Hiroko. "Did you know what you are already?" she inquired.

"Not until today," she replied. "Suzumi already told me, thank you."

There was an awkward silence, and then Hiroko finally said quietly, "She also said my family wants to kill me. I don't think my mom does, though. Do you know where she is?"

Aya's eyes widened in surprise. "So her family is after her too," she whispered. Then Suzumi spoke up.

"Well, I think this all deserves an explanation," she said. Then she looked at Hiroko. "Don't you agree?"

Hiroko looked at her in surprise, and then looked down at her feet. Then she began, "Well, I was at home with my mom when she suggested that she and I go for a car ride…"

_Now things are finally cleared up a bit! Now if you're wondering about C-Project, that comes into the next chapter. For people who have read this far, thank you for being so devoted! Just one favor: **pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaasssssssseeeeee reeeeeeeeeevieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!** (Um, that means please review!) _****


	5. Chapter 4

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm baaaaaaaaaaack! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Sorry, I'm a little bit hyper right now. Aren't you just thrilled that I've finally updated? I'm actually quite surprised that my story hasn't gone off the first page of "sort by updates" yet. I guess that not a lot of people read Ceres anymore.(Sigh… really good story) Anyway, back to the subject . I've finally found a location in time for this story! It's located between the end of the fourth book and the beginning of the fifth book. I already know about the "new and improved" Aki, so don't think I'm a newbie. Sorry, Tooya fans, I'm not sure whether he comes in this story a lot (I really don't think so). Sorry, am I boring you with my yammering? Okay, I'll stop now! This is Chapter Four! 

Chapter Four

Kagami paced back and forth in his office. He had already gotten bored of watching Aki on the memory probe, so he left Alec to keep an eye on him. Whether he knew it or not, he was getting impatient with the progress on C-Project (and also, whether he knew it or not, he was slowly acquiring an addiction to Colombian coffee. He really needed to get off the stuff). The captures of celestial maidens he made at Tochigi weren't nearly as much as he had hoped, so he knew he needed some other plan. Unless he could mass-produce the vector medication, Kagami Mikage was stuck to releasing it on small scales. He needed a new plan.  
Kagami just decided that it was time to check up on Aki when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," he grumbled. The door opened and an the reception lady poked her head around the corner.  
"Sir, you have a phone call from the Tokiris. Shall I put you on the line?" Kagami looked up. This was certainly unexpected. Maybe they wanted to do a business deal?  
"Uh, okay," he said. "Make it private." Ten minutes later, Kagami hung up the phone in a much better mood than he was before the phone call. He picked up the phone again and dialed the line for the memory probe observatory.  
"Alec," he said. "Politely send Aki back to his room and come up to my office. We have work to do."

Hiroko leaned her head back against the wall of her room. It had been about a week since her arrival at the Aogiris, and she had already made friends with the other residents, especially Aya. At first, Hiroko wanted to go to the Tokiri main house and stand up to her family. According to Suzumi, The Tokiris were out to kill any reborn celestial maiden in the family, just like the Mikages. However, the others made sure that she didn't leave the house. Suzumi already had enough experience with a certain Aya Mikage who wouldn't listen to her advice about staying.  
Hiroko decided she needed a snack, so she got up and walked to the kitchen. As she walked, she could hear the TV on, so she decided to turn it off. She walked into the TV room and was about to grab the remote when she heard the name "Mikage." Hiroko stopped what she was doing and watched the television intently.  
"………….Kagami Mikage has recently made a successful business deal with Tokiri Enterprise, a large corporation that has rivaled Mikage Corp. for many years. Now, it appears that Tokiri Enterprise is sponsoring a large-scale project Mikage Corp. has recently began. The purpose of the project remains unknown as of today………" Hiroko was already charging down the hallway to find Suzumi. She knew that this could only mean one thing; Tokiri was now supporting C-Project. Hiroko was now going to have to watch her step wherever she went.

Kagami was ready. He would soon have a huge advantage in C-Project, or rather, three: the C-Genomes Ceres, Chidori Kuruma, and Hiroko Tokiri.

Sorry about the short chapter! I have anew comp., so I don't have Microsoft Word yet. I have to use the Notepad. Anyway, you're going to have to wait til next time for what happens next! This is one of the chapters where the ending is a cliffhanger. Is it hanging you enough? Sorry, am I torturing you? Sooooooooooooorrryyyyyy!


	6. Chapter 5

_Howdy ho! I'm back again! I'm in a state of shock that my story still hasn't gone off the first page. That must mean that I'm dedicated! I've changed the genre, now. It is now "General". I'm not good at the suspense thing. Anyway, I've finally read volume eight, and I must say that I'm disappointed that my idea for this story was not original. Oh well, at least the storyline's completely different. Okay, sorry to bore you. Here's Chapter Five!_

**Chapter 5**

Hiroko kept pounding through the house, ignoring the idea that Suzumi might not even be in the house. She nearly knocked Aya over, but she didn't stop until she finally crashed into Yuhi in the entrance hall.

He was bowled over instantly. "Whoa, watch where you're going, will ya?" he said, annoyed. Hiroko jumped up, mumbled a quick apology, and started to inch away. "Hey, wait a second!" Yuhi called after her. She turned around and looked at him sheepishly.

He got up and finished brushing himself off, muttering something about "too much dust on this stinkin' floor", and then looked up. "Where are you going in such a hurry?" he asked.

"Well, umm… I, uhh… I was, er, looking for Suzumi to tell her something, uh, important, but, uh, I can't find her. Do you know where she is?" she replied. Her cheeks were turning steadily pinker as she said this. By the time she got to the last sentence and sped through it, her whole face was bright red.

Yuhi looked at her in the eye. "Okay: number one, don't stutter; number two, don't get so stressed, you're turning bright red; and number three, Suzumi's out so it'll have to wait 'till later," he said. Hiroko turned, if possible, even redder at this statement. "Uh, thanks," she said quietly. She turned and was about to walk away when the front door opened suddenly. In walked Suzumi, with a crowd of servants carrying shopping bags.

"Suzumi!" shouted Yuhi. "WHERE WERE YOU!"

"Shopping for _you,"_ she replied indifferently. "Go help the servants, it's _your _ingredients anyway." She paused thoughtfully. "You know what, _you_ might as well go finish unpacking _your_ items, it'd save them a job."

"Stop saying 'yours'!" said Yuhi angrily as he walked out of the room and into the kitchen. Hiroko then took her chance and turned to Suzumi.

"Suzumi!" she said. "My family… the Tokiris… they're joining up with the Mikages! Not Aya's grandpa's side… the corporation! They're going to track us down like dogs! What are we gonna do!"

Suzumi blinked, and then did a surprising thing. She _laughed._ Hiroko stared at her, dumbfounded, not knowing what to say.

Suzumi calmed down a bit and then said, "This is the best news we've had in a long time!" and started laughing again. Hiroko was completely flabbergasted. She thought she had been _against_ the Mikages.

Finally, she stopped laughing and asked, "Where did you find this out?"

Hiroko, still surprised, said, "On the news."

This sent her into another fit of laughter, this time louder and longer than the other fits. Hiroko just about decided that she had gone off her rocker.

When she calmed down enough to speak again, she called in Mrs. Q. "Mrs. Q.," she said in a more businesslike tone. "I want you to get the servants onto the Tokiris, researching every website about them. I need you all to find out what they're up to with the Mikages. Hack if you need to."

Mrs. Q bowed and left, leaving Hiroko to ask, "What's going on?"

"Oh!" Suzumi said. "You didn't know, did you? If the Tokiris have joined with the Mikages, they've provided us with another information source about the Mikages, meaning they'll have Mikage information posted on their websites. And the best part about this is that the Tokiris have enough money to buy anything they wanted, but not enough brains to get a security system for their computers!" She laughed again, saying, "They were _so stupid_ to broadcast this on television!"

"Oh," said Hiroko, relieved. She was pleasantly surprised that this was a good thing for finding out what the Mikage Corporation was up to, but she was also worried about something. She voiced her opinion to Suzumi.

"Won't they cause a lot of trouble now that they've merged, because of C-Project and all?" she asked.

Suzumi looked at her (she had finally calmed down completely). "Yes, I'm afraid so," she said. "But we're going to have to be vigilant if we're going to prevent them from causing more mischief. But at least we can find out what they're planning."

"I hope you're right," said Hiroko in response.

Later that day, Aya came out onto the front porch and sat down. She had just gone to visit her mother with Chidori. Suzumi had already told her about the Mikages and Tokiris merging, and she had exactly the same opinion as Hiroko. She was also worried about her mother, as she still hadn't woken up. Things were starting to get more difficult for her. She wished she could see Toya, or at least phone him…

The silence was disturbed when Hiroko came out onto the porch. "You doing okay?" she asked. Aya nodded. "It sure has been a stressful day, hasn't it?" Hiroko continued.

"Yeah, it has," Aya agreed.

Then, there was silence. After a while, Hiroko asked, "Don't you think it's kinda weird, with us looking so much alike?"

Aya nodded. "Yeah, it is weird. We could be twins!" she said.

Hiroko sat down beside her. "I wonder if we'd look alike if we both transformed," she mused.

Aya looked at her. "Yeah! Ceres _does_ look kinda like your celestial form…"

"Ceres?"

"Oh. She's my celestial form. Suzumi didn't tell you her name?"

"No, she didn't."

They were quiet again. After a while, Aya glanced back at her and looked away. Then she did a double-take.

Hiroko's hair was rapidly darkening to a glossy black color. She had her face in her knees, as if thinking about something. Aya could only stare in amazement as her her hair stopped changing color.

"Um... Hiroko?" Aya asked tentatively.

She lifted her head up slowly and turned towards her. Aya gasped. Her eyes had turned from icy blue to deep, clear green. This was no longer the Hiroko that was sitting quietly beside Aya just a moment ago. This was the celestial maiden that possessed her, the young woman she had rescued that day on the gravel parking lot.

The maiden was silent for a moment as she examined Aya's face. Then she turned her head to the trees surrounding the entrance of the estate.

"I've found you," she said in a quiet, clear voice. Then she lowered her head back into her knees again and closed her eyes.The deep, raven-black color of her hair faded back into Hiroko's original mouse-brown color. Aya was perplexed. _Didshe know me or something_?she thought_. Or maybe she knew Ceres_!

Aya was still staring at Hirokoinbewilderment when she suddenly lifted up her face and looked around in surprise. "Oh! I must've drifted off just now!" she said.

Then she looked at Aya and after a moment. Finally, she asked, "What?"

_To be continued! This was a long one, but I appreciate it if you "stayed tuned." Alright, this has been Chapter Five of Hiroko, thank you for reading this far? Signing off for now..._


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